A Soldier's Afterlife
by FrankieSchylerNevMan
Summary: A soldier with the Stormwind Army sent with a battalion to rid Westbrook of the gnoll problem tries to understand a "corpse run".
1. Chapter 1

. . . I dreamt wonderful dreams that night; dreams about happy, joyous times and beautiful women bowing to my every command. I felt warm inside and my body was free of all aches or pains. It was a great period of my lifetime…until I woke up, and it all went away in a flash.

As I blinked and strained my eyes to see in the sudden light, I felt a throbbing in my head. As if someone had driven a wooden plank fifty times over at my skull. I clasped my hand onto my head and was a little shocked to that it was free of an open wound. I began to wander away from where I had woken up, and then stopped dead in my tracks. I realized I had no idea where I was or, even, who I was. Then something else caught my eye: the forest I was in had no animals. The place was empty! Nothing but trees and grass as far as the eye could see! Well, not quite. I could see a town in the distance. It was nothing more than an inn, a smithy, and a few cottages. Nonetheless, I pressed toward the town stumbling and having to catch my balance multiple times.

Once I arrived at this town my mouth gaped open in disbelief. There were no people! It was like a ghost town, as if everybody who had lived there had suddenly got up and left without any reason. The forge still burned a bright red color, but I couldn't feel its warmth. The inn still echoed with the merry cries of happy patrons and soft music coming from an unknown source. I climbed the stairs of the inn and went into the only room I could find unlocked. It had a bed fit for a king and was decorated heavenly. I lay down on the bed but couldn't feel its soft silk sheets or hefty wool pillow at all. Then the sheen of a mirror caught my eye and I walked over to it. . .

What I saw still haunts me now. I saw myself, still dressed in my armor with my trusty long sword sheathed at my hip. I had a shield on my back that bore a strange insignia: a lion, blue in color and crafted into the shield perfectly. The blue and gold tabard I wore also had a lion graphic on it, this time it was a dull golden color. I then went pale with fear and spun around, looking to the wall behind my, then back to the mirror. I discovered a horror that sent me reeling back in shock, until my back hit the wall and I slid to my knees; I was transparent. An eerie blue tint seemed to coat my body and rise up off it, in a smoky form.


	2. Chapter 2

. . . I dreamt wonderful dreams that night; dreams about happy, joyous times and beautiful women bowing to my every command. I felt warm inside and my body was free of all aches or pains. It was a great period of my lifetime…until I woke up, and it all went away in a flash.

As I blinked and strained my eyes to see in the sudden light, I felt a throbbing in my head. As if someone had driven a wooden plank fifty times over at my skull. I clasped my hand onto my head and was a little shocked to that it was free of an open wound. I began to wander away from where I had woken up, and then stopped dead in my tracks. I realized I had no idea where I was or, even, who I was. Then something else caught my eye: the forest I was in had no animals. The place was empty! Nothing but trees and grass as far as the eye could see! Well, not quite. I could see a town in the distance. It was nothing more than an inn, a smithy, and a few cottages. Nonetheless, I pressed toward the town stumbling and having to catch my balance multiple times.

Once I arrived at this town my mouth gaped open in disbelief. There were no people! It was like a ghost town, as if everybody who had lived there had suddenly got up and left without any reason. The forge still burned a bright red color, but I couldn't feel its warmth. The inn still echoed with the merry cries of happy patrons and soft music coming from an unknown source. I climbed the stairs of the inn and went into the only room I could find unlocked. It had a bed fit for a king and was decorated heavenly. I lay down on the bed but couldn't feel its soft silk sheets or hefty wool pillow at all. Then the sheen of a mirror caught my eye and I walked over to it. . .

What I saw still haunts me now. I saw myself, still dressed in my armor with my trusty long sword sheathed at my hip. I had a shield on my back that bore a strange insignia: a lion, blue in color and crafted into the shield perfectly. The blue and gold tabard I wore also had a lion graphic on it, this time it was a dull golden color. I then went pale with fear and spun around, looking to the wall behind my, then back to the mirror. I discovered a horror that sent me reeling back in shock, until my back hit the wall and I slid to my knees; I was transparent. An eerie blue tint seemed to coat my body and rise up off it, in a smoky form.

I woke some time later. I must've been either too filled with fear to remember what happened in those couple hours or asleep. Another strange thing came to me when I woke up: I knew where I was. I was in the Lion's Pride Inn located in Goldshire, Elwynn Forest. A weird coolness filled the inn, but not suddenly, as if it had been there all along and I was just noticing it.

"Hello? Is… Is anybody here?" I called out, my voice still shaky with fear.

No answer. Just the clattering of beer mugs and friendly, drunken chatter of the patrons… That weren't visible to me. I took a walk outside and discovered anything oddity: The sky wasn't blue anymore. It was a swirling maelstrom of purple, gray, and blue energies. It seemed to be sucking the color and life out of everything in this world I was stuck in.

I began to examine myself closer. I counted up the tally-marks on my shield; there were six of them. And I noted a rip in my otherwise clean tabard, it was on my back. The rip was a jagged cut, probably make by some primitive weapon or even a twig. Who knew? I sure didn't. I glanced around Goldshire and shook my head, then burst out laughing.

"It's… it's a dream! Ahahaha… Just a dream! Good one, gods, yeah… Hahaha…" I sighed.

Trying to trick myself into believing this all was a dream just wans't going to work. It was much too real! But then I thought about how I could prove I was dreaming. I unsheathed my sword and weighed it in my hands, examining it closely. Then, I went to cut my forearm open and watch as I would snap awake. I placed the blade on my skin and pushed with all my might, closing my eyes and bracing for the sudden burn of pain. Nothing… I gasped. Nothing had happened! No pain, cut, blood, or even feeling…

I began to panic, really panic. I lashed out at objects in anger, cutting fenceposts and leaving deep gashes in the landscape around Goldshire. I was angry. I screamed up at the sky, the maelstrom, one minute and then the next begged for forgiveness for the deed that landed me in this hell. I fell to my knees and weep for what seemed like days.


End file.
